 | "FOR THOSE OF US WHO WANT TO CREATE AND BE SOMEWHAT FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT, [...] BEING ABLE TO MAKE MONEY WHILE PURSUING OUR PASSIONS SOUNDS IDEAL. WHEN I HEARD ABOUT CONNOR’S ATTAINMENT OF BOTH OF THINGS THINGS, I DECIDED TO SIT DOWN WITH HIM AS HE WALKED ME THROUGH THE DIFFERENT WAYS HE HAS MADE MONEY IN HIS MEDIUM- VISUAL ARTS." -- ELLA ZALON |
As young artists, the immediate goal is usually not to make money (at least, not realistically). The goal is to create in the first place, as well as learn and better our craft. However, Connor Kay, a sophomore new to OSA this year, is achieving both at once. Connor is a visual artist that started selling his work by commission around six months ago. For those of us who want to create and be somewhat financially independent, or even save up for college, being able to make money while pursuing our passions sounds ideal. When I heard about Connor’s attainment of both of things, I decided to sit down with him as he walked me through the different ways he has made money in his medium--visual arts. However, there are ways in every field to make money as an artist. Sometimes this means a compromise, sometimes not. Here’s what Connor had to say.
Ella Zalon: When did you start making art?
Connor Kay: It was always in elementary school, I was always the kid who had [...] the good handwriting, or, you know, who liked to be creative and artistic and I think that just like flourished in middle school and it’s kind of just become this thing that I do, like I love to do art. [...] I would say really around second grade I started actually doing drawings and like they were doodles but it just developed like that.
EZ: How has your art shifted over time? What have your styles been?
CK: So originally I started with doodles and I did like eyes and trees and stuff and it was [...] like the common things. Like pencil, and [...] nothing else like graphite. That was the medium. [...] In middle school [...] I took an art class and that was whatever he wanted us to do, we were doing. And so I never really developed an individual style. And so now, being at OSA, I’ve shifted to large scale paintings. So like, three feet by five feet. [...] And then, palette knife paintings. [...] So it’s basically a knife for paint and I just scoop it up and I hit the canvas with it. So it’s never flat. It’s always thick, or I do [...] portraits of people [...] and I like to do it broken up and I like to do it with interesting colors that people don’t normally think of.
Ella Zalon: When did you start making art?
Connor Kay: It was always in elementary school, I was always the kid who had [...] the good handwriting, or, you know, who liked to be creative and artistic and I think that just like flourished in middle school and it’s kind of just become this thing that I do, like I love to do art. [...] I would say really around second grade I started actually doing drawings and like they were doodles but it just developed like that.
EZ: How has your art shifted over time? What have your styles been?
CK: So originally I started with doodles and I did like eyes and trees and stuff and it was [...] like the common things. Like pencil, and [...] nothing else like graphite. That was the medium. [...] In middle school [...] I took an art class and that was whatever he wanted us to do, we were doing. And so I never really developed an individual style. And so now, being at OSA, I’ve shifted to large scale paintings. So like, three feet by five feet. [...] And then, palette knife paintings. [...] So it’s basically a knife for paint and I just scoop it up and I hit the canvas with it. So it’s never flat. It’s always thick, or I do [...] portraits of people [...] and I like to do it broken up and I like to do it with interesting colors that people don’t normally think of.
EZ: How would you stylistically describe your art right now?
CK: Well it’s very stylized. [...] It’s bright colors, very not clean lines [...], I like to blend everything. [...] I don’t normally put harsh lines on there. And just very fluid. [...] My work is either splotches of color or realistic color. But it just depends on [...] the piece I’m doing.
EZ: Well I was looking through your instagram and looking at your art, and I noticed that at some points you did sort of a pop art kind of thing? And then I also know that [...] in Spanish, you did that piece, and it seems like you’re very good at imitating other styles. [...] It seems like you pick up on these elements really well. How do you feel like that plays into your art now, if at all?
CK: My favorite artist, his name is Peter Terrin, he’s from Playa del Carmen in Mexico, and he does [...] large scale palette knife paintings [...] And so I found him two years ago, I love his work. So I’ve kind of just like taken that style and interpreted it into my own. Or [...] I’ll take any image and make it large scale palette knife. [...] He mainly does portraits. I like to get as much influence as I can in my artwork because if I enjoy that style, then I know what I’m creating, I’ll enjoy.
EZ: Do you market yourself as a student artist or a young artist?
CK: That actually really helps, because, a lot of the time people like to invest in people that are young. Really, one of my key things that I say to them is that [...] you’re investing in this and maybe later on in my life you could sell this if you wanted to but it’s [...] not about so much the price, it’s about investing in someone’s future, in someone’s career. And [...] what you’re doing is helping me become a better artist. [...] [Because] money I earn is going straight to my college fund. I’ve spent [...] very little of it because I want to go to college, I want to better my craft and career.
EZ: How do your clients react to you being a young artist?
CK: Most of the time people are very impressed with what I do because people who want to buy my artwork don’t really draw [...] They have an interest in artwork, but but they don’t understand the process of it and how they make it so really when I show them the finished product, they really like it, they’re amazed by it. What I like to do when someone’s spending money, because this is a lot of money, and they’re buying a painting from me, so I like to take them step by step through the process. [...] I’ll ask if they like this color, or if there’s any changes they want to be made. Right now I’m not at the point where I can just make art that I want to and then sell it. I do by commission so it’s usually what they want. I really like to incorporate them into the piece [because] it’s what they want.
CK: Well it’s very stylized. [...] It’s bright colors, very not clean lines [...], I like to blend everything. [...] I don’t normally put harsh lines on there. And just very fluid. [...] My work is either splotches of color or realistic color. But it just depends on [...] the piece I’m doing.
EZ: Well I was looking through your instagram and looking at your art, and I noticed that at some points you did sort of a pop art kind of thing? And then I also know that [...] in Spanish, you did that piece, and it seems like you’re very good at imitating other styles. [...] It seems like you pick up on these elements really well. How do you feel like that plays into your art now, if at all?
CK: My favorite artist, his name is Peter Terrin, he’s from Playa del Carmen in Mexico, and he does [...] large scale palette knife paintings [...] And so I found him two years ago, I love his work. So I’ve kind of just like taken that style and interpreted it into my own. Or [...] I’ll take any image and make it large scale palette knife. [...] He mainly does portraits. I like to get as much influence as I can in my artwork because if I enjoy that style, then I know what I’m creating, I’ll enjoy.
EZ: Do you market yourself as a student artist or a young artist?
CK: That actually really helps, because, a lot of the time people like to invest in people that are young. Really, one of my key things that I say to them is that [...] you’re investing in this and maybe later on in my life you could sell this if you wanted to but it’s [...] not about so much the price, it’s about investing in someone’s future, in someone’s career. And [...] what you’re doing is helping me become a better artist. [...] [Because] money I earn is going straight to my college fund. I’ve spent [...] very little of it because I want to go to college, I want to better my craft and career.
EZ: How do your clients react to you being a young artist?
CK: Most of the time people are very impressed with what I do because people who want to buy my artwork don’t really draw [...] They have an interest in artwork, but but they don’t understand the process of it and how they make it so really when I show them the finished product, they really like it, they’re amazed by it. What I like to do when someone’s spending money, because this is a lot of money, and they’re buying a painting from me, so I like to take them step by step through the process. [...] I’ll ask if they like this color, or if there’s any changes they want to be made. Right now I’m not at the point where I can just make art that I want to and then sell it. I do by commission so it’s usually what they want. I really like to incorporate them into the piece [because] it’s what they want.
EZ: How do you talk about price range?
CK: What I do is I take the cost of the canvas, times it by three, and then put the price of the paint that I use because I like to use very nice, high quality paint. [...] I’m supposed to do [...] your hourly rate times how many hours you do and I spend [...] upwards of twenty-four hours on each of these pieces. [...] I haven’t really figured out an hourly rate. It’s more specifically by the size of the canvas, because these pieces are so large. [...] These are higher pieces, [...] but they’re obviously not going to be as high of a price as something you’ll see in a gallery. [...] Actually, a lot of the times people will say how much they will spend. [...] And I did these renderings for this person, and she was like “ok is three hundred dollars fine?” and I was like no, that’s so much, you don’t need to pay that, it’s like a hundred dollars. [...] So it’s not really about the price of it, it’s about what they want, and delivering it to them.
EZ: What has been the most interesting commission request you’ve ever had?
CK: One I did in August, so initially this was one of my dad’s friends, actually not friend, just someone he knew. [...] He told me she wanted a bare-chested cowgirl wearing a cowgirl hat and [...] these short shorts. And the way he described it was, it’s so funny, because what she really wanted was [...] very tasteful, but it was a woman with a cowboy hat and these short shorts but [the shirt] wasn’t like open. [...] She saw it somewhere in a gallery for like [...] 25,000 dollars. [...] So she really wanted someone to replicate that. The way my dad said it seemed so raunchy [...].
EZ: Were you going to do it the way your dad described it?
CK: Actually, my mom was like “you’re not doing that Connor.” [...] She says maybe when you're a senior you can do nudes. It was so funny.
EZ: What types of people are buying your work?
CK: Normally, [...] it shifts. [...] It really varies with each person. Normally, they have money that they want to spend. And because of where I live it kind of like… not helps but it’s like… it’s more commonplace to see people that are willing to spend money for a painting, which like in other places, people don’t really necessarily want to spend that much. [...] It really just depends piece to piece.
EZ: When did you begin putting your work out into the world, and finding clients, and how?
CK: So it really started six months ago. [...] It’s very recent. [...] Before that I made business cards because my dad wanted me to start doing that. And so normally what I do is every year I try to do [...] five charity auctions where I donate a painting and they do it in a silent auction or live auction. And I think as of today I’ve raised over 3,000 dollars for various charities, for like JDRF which is Junior Diabetic Research Foundation [...]. So I like to do that because [...] it’s not only [...] spreading my artwork, [...] but it’s also giving back and giving to people which is really important to me. My dad just instilled that in me. [...]
CK: What I do is I take the cost of the canvas, times it by three, and then put the price of the paint that I use because I like to use very nice, high quality paint. [...] I’m supposed to do [...] your hourly rate times how many hours you do and I spend [...] upwards of twenty-four hours on each of these pieces. [...] I haven’t really figured out an hourly rate. It’s more specifically by the size of the canvas, because these pieces are so large. [...] These are higher pieces, [...] but they’re obviously not going to be as high of a price as something you’ll see in a gallery. [...] Actually, a lot of the times people will say how much they will spend. [...] And I did these renderings for this person, and she was like “ok is three hundred dollars fine?” and I was like no, that’s so much, you don’t need to pay that, it’s like a hundred dollars. [...] So it’s not really about the price of it, it’s about what they want, and delivering it to them.
EZ: What has been the most interesting commission request you’ve ever had?
CK: One I did in August, so initially this was one of my dad’s friends, actually not friend, just someone he knew. [...] He told me she wanted a bare-chested cowgirl wearing a cowgirl hat and [...] these short shorts. And the way he described it was, it’s so funny, because what she really wanted was [...] very tasteful, but it was a woman with a cowboy hat and these short shorts but [the shirt] wasn’t like open. [...] She saw it somewhere in a gallery for like [...] 25,000 dollars. [...] So she really wanted someone to replicate that. The way my dad said it seemed so raunchy [...].
EZ: Were you going to do it the way your dad described it?
CK: Actually, my mom was like “you’re not doing that Connor.” [...] She says maybe when you're a senior you can do nudes. It was so funny.
EZ: What types of people are buying your work?
CK: Normally, [...] it shifts. [...] It really varies with each person. Normally, they have money that they want to spend. And because of where I live it kind of like… not helps but it’s like… it’s more commonplace to see people that are willing to spend money for a painting, which like in other places, people don’t really necessarily want to spend that much. [...] It really just depends piece to piece.
EZ: When did you begin putting your work out into the world, and finding clients, and how?
CK: So it really started six months ago. [...] It’s very recent. [...] Before that I made business cards because my dad wanted me to start doing that. And so normally what I do is every year I try to do [...] five charity auctions where I donate a painting and they do it in a silent auction or live auction. And I think as of today I’ve raised over 3,000 dollars for various charities, for like JDRF which is Junior Diabetic Research Foundation [...]. So I like to do that because [...] it’s not only [...] spreading my artwork, [...] but it’s also giving back and giving to people which is really important to me. My dad just instilled that in me. [...]
EZ: What was your first art sell like, or I guess commission, and how did it happen?
CK: I think I did this painting of someone from U2 for my mom for her fiftieth birthday, and then one of my dad’s clients was like “oh, hey, I want that.” And so I ended up just painting another painting, and selling it to her. A lot of the things come through my dad because he has clients. [...] My dad’s a mortgage broker. [...] But he’s very connected in Danville, and so his clients, he shows them my artwork, which is like a big thing and so they will often say “oh, I want that, could he do this?”
EZ: What has been your biggest, or most successful, or favorite sell?
CK: Actually, does a charity count?
EZ: Sure.
CK: Three days after school let out, Troops Direct, I donated this, I painted this huge American flag painting, and I had to do it in three days, which is not a lot of time to do something that large. And so, it was a first time ever painting that large with a palette knife[...] And so I stayed up till [...] midnight the night before the auction, I got it done, and it ended up selling for a thousand dollars. Which was like, the biggest thing that ever happened [...]. Even though I didn’t get any of the money, I thought that was like really cool. So that’s probably my favorite sell[...].
Basically it comes down to money, because I am trying to go to college.
CK: I think I did this painting of someone from U2 for my mom for her fiftieth birthday, and then one of my dad’s clients was like “oh, hey, I want that.” And so I ended up just painting another painting, and selling it to her. A lot of the things come through my dad because he has clients. [...] My dad’s a mortgage broker. [...] But he’s very connected in Danville, and so his clients, he shows them my artwork, which is like a big thing and so they will often say “oh, I want that, could he do this?”
EZ: What has been your biggest, or most successful, or favorite sell?
CK: Actually, does a charity count?
EZ: Sure.
CK: Three days after school let out, Troops Direct, I donated this, I painted this huge American flag painting, and I had to do it in three days, which is not a lot of time to do something that large. And so, it was a first time ever painting that large with a palette knife[...] And so I stayed up till [...] midnight the night before the auction, I got it done, and it ended up selling for a thousand dollars. Which was like, the biggest thing that ever happened [...]. Even though I didn’t get any of the money, I thought that was like really cool. So that’s probably my favorite sell[...].
Basically it comes down to money, because I am trying to go to college.
EZ: How do you feel when you sell your work?
CK: It’s kind of an emotional feeling because it’s like it kind of reassures how [...] I’m becoming successful and like I’m being able to sell it. [...] Because it’s like someone’s buying this from me and it’s really cool that they’re willing to spend this on a fifteen year old kid. And also having this money to be able to go to college, it’s like it’s really emotional actually.
So you really wanna go to college, do you plan on pursuing art in college?
Yeah. I think I know what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna get a student art degree or fine art degree and then I do really wanna go to Yale. Because they have the best graduate art degree [...] I don’t have to do it like right after I get my undergraduate, but just at some point I will wanna do that.
So what’s next for Connor? For one, he’s working on creating a website to showcase his work. He’s already been successful at making money in his field- a possibility many of us have shirked or that has been shirked by the adults in our lives. Money does not always mean success in the art world. The definition of artistic success is individual, and like many things, is based ones personal reasons. Success for some can simply mean completing a piece. For others, art needs eyes to be successful. And, although Connor has already been successful monetarily, he still wants to receive an education in order to better his craft. At the end of the day, Connor’s success goes to show that achieving artists, however they define their success, always have more to learn. The process is never done!
CK: It’s kind of an emotional feeling because it’s like it kind of reassures how [...] I’m becoming successful and like I’m being able to sell it. [...] Because it’s like someone’s buying this from me and it’s really cool that they’re willing to spend this on a fifteen year old kid. And also having this money to be able to go to college, it’s like it’s really emotional actually.
So you really wanna go to college, do you plan on pursuing art in college?
Yeah. I think I know what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna get a student art degree or fine art degree and then I do really wanna go to Yale. Because they have the best graduate art degree [...] I don’t have to do it like right after I get my undergraduate, but just at some point I will wanna do that.
So what’s next for Connor? For one, he’s working on creating a website to showcase his work. He’s already been successful at making money in his field- a possibility many of us have shirked or that has been shirked by the adults in our lives. Money does not always mean success in the art world. The definition of artistic success is individual, and like many things, is based ones personal reasons. Success for some can simply mean completing a piece. For others, art needs eyes to be successful. And, although Connor has already been successful monetarily, he still wants to receive an education in order to better his craft. At the end of the day, Connor’s success goes to show that achieving artists, however they define their success, always have more to learn. The process is never done!
